Third Christmas is the Charm
by ChristianGateFan
Summary: Christmas is a time of the heart, and Vala is out to steal Daniel's. Will the holidays work in her favor? The story of Vala's Christmas experiences, from season ten to the present.
1. Made With Love part 1

I'm still working on all my other stuff, but I thought I'd write a short fluffy Christmas story for a change, for the holidays. Enjoy!

* * *

Third Christmas is the Charm

1st Christmas: Made With Love

_Where is he?_

Vala's eyes scanned the bulletin board in the commissary, numbly taking in the green-and-red-covered cards and announcements and greetings posted there. A cheap silver garland with little plastic trees of the same colors was stapled around the edges of the board, but it didn't improve her mood any.

Thanksgiving had come and gone, and her introduction to the holiday had barely been brightened by the fact that Sam was back, _wasn't_ stuck out of phase, and the alternate timeline she had really been stuck in for two weeks was just fine. The turkey dinner they had all shared last Thursday at Carter's house had instead been a somber occasion. They were all glad to have Sam back safe, sound, and visible, but it only served to remind them all that Daniel, well, wasn't.

Vala brushed the tears away when she felt them coming, and turned away from the cheery bulletin board. By now everyone else on base was already excited about what seemed to be one of the largest Earth holidays of the year, and the last thing she wanted to do right now was cry, but if anything had happened to Daniel…

She jerked when she felt the hand on her shoulder, and turned and saw that it was Sam.

"Hey." Her friend smiled and gave Vala's shoulders a squeeze. She glanced at the board and seemed to understand. "Look on the bright side; Christmas is still three weeks away. There's still time."

"Good point." Vala couldn't help but smile back, just a little. Sam always knew what to say, which was further proved a moment later.

"Speaking of the holidays, I'm going Christmas shopping this weekend. I figure it's best to keep things in routine. After all, when he gets back we don't want Daniel feeling like he disrupted too much being gone, right? He hates that."

Vala appreciated the _when_, even though none of them really knew.

"Anyway, are you coming?" Sam was asking.

She didn't have to think about it long before nodding vigorously.

* * *

It was Friday afternoon, and Mitchell was looking forward to getting home and crashing for the weekend. Despite the holiday atmosphere, there was too much stress in being at the base, what with Jackson still missing. That was the only reason he wasn't surprised when he met Sam and Vala at the elevator, both in civilian clothing and bundled up for the cold weather.

"Where are you girls headed?" he asked curiously.

"I'm staying with Sam tonight," Vala announced immediately, holding up an overnight bag.

Sam shrugged. "We're going Christmas shopping in the morning."

Cam found himself nodding. "Good. That's…that's good." Maybe it would help cheer both of them up. They all needed it. He grinned lopsidedly. "Don't forget to buy Jackson something big and ridiculous—or funny. Funny's good too. When he gets back we might as well embarrass him for staying away on us so long."

Vala chuckled softly, and Sam just smiled. "Yeah."

The elevator doors opened and the tree of them piled in. "Going up," he muttered as the doors closed again. At least, he hoped they were.

He hoped they all would soon.

* * *

"What do you think would qualify as big, ridiculous, and funny?" Vala questioned, as she and Sam walked the mall the next morning. The floor was crowded, those peculiar themed decorations were everywhere, and there were an exorbitantly high percentage of children running around.

"I'm not sure. We'll know it when we see it," Sam mused.

"Oh. Anyway, so what's the idea here again? We need to purchase gifts to give on this holiday? How many people are we giving gifts too?"

She shrugged. "It's up to you. Usually people give gifts to their family and close friends, as well as some co-workers and employers. Personally I need presents for all of you guys, and my brother's family. How many you buy is up to you."

Vala swung her arms and sighed. "Where did this tradition come from, anyway? I still don't understand all of these decorations, either."

Sam laughed a little. "The internet could probably answer that better than I could, Vala. Of the things that became parts of Christmas today, some of them started as much as two thousand years or more ago. The holiday itself based in Christianity though, which I'm sure you've heard of."

"Yes, I've heard of it," she answered skeptically. "After all of my experiences with 'gods,' however, I'm not too thrilled with the prospect of looking into any others just yet."

"That's fine," Sam assured her. "Christians aren't the only people who celebrate it." She glanced around. "As is probably very obvious, most people in this country celebrate it in one way or another."

"What about the others?"

"A lot of them do, too. It's a bit of a universal thing on Earth. Those that don't hold the religious views behind it take it solely on the family and moral values, and others just use it as an excuse for another holiday, I guess…"

"Hmm…what about you?"

Sam blinked and slowed. "Me? Well…My mom was more into the religious side of it than dad was. She was the one that took us to church at least several times a year. Now I'm just glad for the family and friend time we get from it. Besides, you have to admit that it's fun decorating, eating good food, and getting presents," she grinned,

"I wouldn't know because we haven't done any of that yet."

"Well that's why we're here; come on!" Sam pushed her forward and Vala laughed and stumbled with her into a department store.

An hour later, as they made their way to the register with their potential purchases, Vala stopped suddenly and smirked at a large display in the middle of the wide tiled aisle. "Sam, I think we've found it."

Carter stopped and turned to her. "Found what?"

"Daniel's present."

Sam looked around. "Where?"

"Right here." She pointed to the display and Sam's eyes widened.

"Are you serious?"

"I think it certainly qualifies as big, ridiculous, and funny. Besides, it's got glasses, blue eyes, and light brown fur. It looks just like him."

Sam tilted her head and looked at the tall display of large stuffed animals. The things were half as tall as she was. After a moment she smiled. "You know, I think you're right. The Santa hat and the candy canes don't look half bad, either."

They looked at each other for a moment.

"I'll pull one down."

"I'll catch it," Vala nodded.

With out another word, but more than enough giggles, the two women claimed one of the stuffed Christmas monkies and lugged it to the register to check out.

* * *

Three or four more hours later, Sam and Vala finally left the mall for the last time that day. The back seat and trunk of Sam's car were piled with bags and boxes of Christmas presents, clothes that had been on sale, and other Christmas paraphernalia. Among those were a small four-foot fake Christmas tree and a few other decorations for Vala's room that Sam had insisted they buy.

"Just because you have to live on a military base doesn't mean you can't get into the Christmas spirit, too," she explained. "This is your first Christmas here; we're going to make it a good one, I promise."

Well, it would certainly be a good one, thanks to Sam—if they found Daniel in time. This would all be useless otherwise.

Vala slid into the passenger seat and shut her door. Sam was already starting the car, and she ticked off on her fingers the presents she had bought. "Let's see…you, Mitchell, Teal'c, Daniel, Carolyn, a little something for General Landry…I think that about covers it for me. Have you got everything?"

Sam paused a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah. I'm good. I found something for everyone but my sister-in-law…"

"What are you going to do about that?"

"I already have a plan," Sam smiled as she pulled out of the mall parking lot. "I'm making hers."

Vala blinked. "Making…?"

"Yea. You know, 'homemade gifts are special,' and all that. Anyway, she loves anything crocheted, and I've always wanted to try my hand at crocheting anyway. I figured I'd make her a scarf or something; they aren't supposed to be too hard or involved, which is good because I don't have a _lot_ of free time." She fell silent for a moment, and then quietly added. "Besides, this is a good year to try because…because doing anything with my hands keeps me from thinking."

She winced as if she'd said too much, and then seemed to decide that if she'd already gone that far, she might as well add something. "The year Daniel was gone after he ascended was the year I really learned to cook."

Vala swallowed and laid a hand on her friend's shoulder for a moment. She didn't have to say anything.

* * *

Now there were only two weeks until Christmas. Along with a few other decoration, Vala's small tree was up in her room and decorated to bursting with cheap packaged ornaments and garlands, a few nicer ones given to her by her friends, and several packages of candy canes that she snacked on whenever she felt a wave of anxiousness and worry coming on.

For days she had been running to the control room every time the Unscheduled Offworld Activation signal went off, hoping for news of Daniel. Every time she was disappointed. She didn't even have to get all the way up the steps anymore. General Landry knew she was coming; he gave her a small shake of his head if he already knew by the time she started up that it had nothing to do with their missing archaeologist.

This morning Vala lay sprawled across her bed on her stomach, sucking on one of the candy canes from her tree and trying halfheartedly to enjoy the Christmas music blaring from the radio on her bedside table. Daniel's present sat in corner, too large to stuff in the closet. Across the room she stared into the stuffed animal's glossy blue eyes and hoped.

The siren frightened her out of a stupor, and Vala hopped quickly off of the bed and out the door, tossing her candy toward her trash can. She was pretty sure she missed, but she didn't care. A sudden ridiculous hope swelled in her chest, making her run faster than usual. She could barely breathe as she reached the foot of the metal steps, grabbed the railing and vaulted herself upward into the control room, looking…

And seeing nothing but General Landry's shaking head.

A team was coming back early, perfectly safe. That was all.

No Daniel.

Vala all but fell back down the stairs and back down the corridor, eyes blurred with tears before she could swallow them back and make it stop. When she stumbled back into her room she tripped. The nice green-and-red sweater Sam had helped her pick out at the mall caught on the doorknob and ripped as she fell.

She pulled her torn sweater off of the knob, let out a frustrated, inarticulate shout and kicked the door closed from where she'd landed on the floor. She didn't bother getting up; she folded in on herself against the wall beside the door and cried helplessly.

_Daniel, please come home._

By the time she had calmed herself she was already accessing the damage to her sweater. It was bad; it had ripped almost completely up one side, and it wasn't on the seam either. There was no way to fix it and it ever look wearable again. She could always get another one, but it was still disappointing. Well, maybe she could use the material for something else…

_Yea. You know, 'homemade gifts are special,' and all that._

Sam's comment in the car came back to her now, and suddenly it brought her farther back, to her home planet, to her childhood…and to something her mother had told her when she was young.

Vala had been crying because her mother's birthday was approaching, and she didn't have any money to buy her favorite parent a present. Her mother had knelt and taken her into her arms and soothed her tears as only a mother could.

_You don't have to buy me anything, dear. I don't need birthday present; I'm old enough already, besides, I'm happy just to have you here._

_B-but I want to, b-cause I love you. You should get a present_, Vala had cried.

Mother had looked thoughtful for a moment and then smiled. _Then why don't you make me something? That would make me just as happy, and homemade gifts are special, too._

_Special?_

_Of course. You want to know why? _Vala had nodded and leaned close, and her mother has whispered in her ear as if it were the most precious secret in the world. _Because gif_s _you make yourself come from your heart—and nothing is more powerful than what comes from your heart. _

Vala gulped back the fresh tears from the memory of her mother, and had to laugh a little when she remembered that she had come home the next week with nothing more than a necklace made of wildflowers, and it had pleased her mother to no end.

She fingered the torn material of the sweater again, taking an inventory of what might be usable. She didn't know what she wanted to do with it yet, but she knew who whatever it was would be for. Quickly she stood, dropped the ruined piece of clothing on her bed, and went to find someone to take her to town.

* * *

"What, precisely, it is that you are searching for?"

Vala crossed her arms and scanned the aisles of craft supplies as she walked though the local Michael's store. It wasn't the type of place she'd ever been before, and it was rather fascinating, really—even though she had no idea what most of the things in here were. "I'll let you know when I do, Muscles. Thanks for driving me, by the way."

They passed an aisle of those machines she had seen on television that were supposed to make sewing quick and easy, but they were well outside her remaining budget. Eventually she found the needles and thread and pins and picked several up of all, then went in search of Christmas and winter-themed material.

She was in luck; there was a whole bin of the stuff on sale in time for the holidays. Teal'c raised an eyebrow at her in bewilderment as she dug through the reams of the stuff, looking for the right patterns once she had found some in simple Christmas colors. The snowflakes were perfect, but the fat little men were too bright, and she still didn't really understand the significance of this 'Santa' yet anyway. The red noses on the deer-like animals disconcerted her, so she left them for the Christmas trees and men made of balls of snow.

"Those are snowmen," Teal'c pointed out after a moment,

"Thank you. Now which do you like better, the ones with the brooms or the ones with the red hats?" He picked up the material with the snowmen in red hats.

Vala nodded. "Good, I like that one better too. But will Daniel?"

There went the eyebrow again. "What?" It was about then that she realized she was drawing attention from people passing by, seeing as she was digging through a bin of sale material with a large dark man like Teal'c at her side. Well, at least that would help her avoid answering annoying questions. It didn't seem like anyone wanted to get too close.

"What will you do with these?" Teal'c asked, pointing to the fabric already dropped into the cart. "Why does it matter if Daniel Jackson likes them?"

"Because," she said brightly. "I'm making him a present out of them."

The eyebrow didn't fall all the way back down, but it was enough that she understood that he approved of the intent, anyway—even if he still seemed to think it a strange thing for her to do. That was perfectly all right, though. _She_ thought it was a strange thing for her to do. But she wanted to do it anyway.

Once they had more than enough material, they were passing the magazine aisle when Vala spotted a holiday issue of sewing chronicle that promised easy instructions on how to make simple winter wear—scarves and hats and blanket, and such. She was sure she could have figured it out on her own and had been telling Teal'c as much, but when he wasn't looking she silently flipped through it and then slipped the magazine in between the fabric.

He saw anyway. "If you are planning to craft such things, you will need more than the material and the threads with which to hold them together," the jaffa advised.

Vala's hands went to her hips and she blinked at him. "How would you know? What else could I possibly need."

"Jaffa are a simple people, despite their former masters' technology. This you know quite well. Did you not know that jaffa must often be aware of how to make their own clothing?"

"Oh! Right…I'm sure I _did_ know that. I suppose it just didn't occur to me." She crossed her arms and glanced around. "All right then. What else do I need?"

"I believe you will need another layer of a thicker substance to secure between the layers of material when crafting whatever it is you desire to make—and certainly if the intent is to keep the wearer warm in anyway."

She shrugged. "All right. Let's find something then." Teal's nodded once, donning that small smile of his that seemed almost shrug when he knew he was right.

The two of them wondered the store, but they didn't dare ask for help. Vala assumed that any normal Earth person coming into one of these stores would at least be aware of a general term for what they sought. They didn't even have that, so there was nothing they could safely ask. Thankfully, Teal'c finally stopped and pointed to a shelf that held plastic bags of a bunch of puffy white stuff.

"That should be sufficient."

The bag reading _Grade A Stuffing_. Stuffing. What an unoriginal name. Vala looked at it skeptically. "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to use that."

"It is similar to the plant fibers used in foul weather clothing on Chulak. Simply contain it between layers of fabric with stitching. It is already in the form needed to contain body heat."

She stared at him. "Well…this is certainly something I never expected to be taking advice from _you _about." There went that smile of his again. She smirked and was about to grab a large bag of the stuff when something similar caught her eye across the aisle. This stuff though, was already in sheet form and rolled in thick layers around a cardboard holder just like all of the fabric was.

"Oh look! What about this? I'm sure it would be easier to use."

Teal'c merely gave it a once-over and nodded. "Indeed."

* * *

That afternoon Vala sat in her quarters beside her bed with her purchases from Michael's spread across the floor in front of her as she flipped through the craft magazine.

There were plenty of patterns all right, but none that she could do in the time she had without one of those sewing machine things. The 'simple' patterns were for things like sweaters and hats and even a couple of different types of mittens, but no scarves—only ideas for how to embellish scarves one already had.

Well, she _could_ use that…the only idea she liked though was the instructions for making tassels out of a sort of fuzzy material. She wasn't sure what it was called, but it comprised most of what she had bought. It seemed more cozy than the regular fabrics. She wasn't even sure why Teal'c thought she needed the insulation material along with it, she supposed there was nothing wrong with being too warm when it was as cold outside as it could get here in the winter.

"Fine," she sighed. "I'll figure the rest out on my own then." It couldn't be that hard, right?

The first part wasn't so hard. She cut wide squares of the fabrics she wanted in the scarf and set them end-to-end on the bed, then cut a strip of the insulating material half as wide that was as long as all of them.

Now she just needed to put the pieces together.

For the first time in her life she was grateful for the rudimentary sewing skills her mother had taught her as a girl, but she was also frustrated with how slowly the skill came back to her—not that she had ever been very good at it, but still…

It didn't take too long to thread the needle with the bright red thread, but it took longer to try to remember how to hold the first two squares before she remembered the pins and put them in so she could begin to stitch the first two pieces together. Even then, it went very slowly by hand, and she remembered why she had never had to patience to sit with her mother long enough to hone this particular skill.

"This could take a while," she muttered to herself. Sighing, she stood for a moment to turn on the Christmas radio station, and then went back to work.

* * *

A little over a week until Christmas, and still no sign of Daniel anywhere. The quickly approaching holiday wasn't holding much appeal anymore, Sam thought grimly. It didn't help that Vala had been shut up in her room all week but for missions.

And there had been quite a few missions, too. Tomorrow they were heading back to a planet they had visited before, where a prior had shown up recently. Said prior was due to return then, and they wanted to be there. After that there would be no more missions until after Christmas, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Finally Sam dropped what she was doing in her lab and decided to check on Vala.

She wasn't expecting what she saw when she got there.

"Come in!" Vala called from inside.

Sam went in, and froze halfway through closing the door behind her. "What's going on in here?"

Discarded pieces of thread and material littered the floor, and Vala was on the bed putting the finishing touches on what looked like a scarf, pulling strips of fuzzy material through holes on either end and tying them off. She looked quite proud of herself. "Look!" she exclaimed happily, holding up the nearly finished product. "Can you believe I did this all myself?"

Sam took the scarf from her, and looked it over. "Wow." It was longer than absolutely necessary, and sectioned with different patterns of the same soft material as the tassels. Some were merely abstract designs in Christmas colors, and some were small repeated pictures with snowflakes, snowmen, or Christmas trees. Her first reaction was to say they didn't match, but then she realized that it was all color-coordinated.

The thing was thick, as if there were another layer of something on the inside, folded between the outside layer of colorful material that was only sewn up on one side because it was just that—a single layer folded in half. The different-patterned pieces of the outside layers weren't sewn together perfectly, but the stitching was thick and strong even if it wasn't straight. The ends of the sections, instead of being folded down and sewn on the underside like in a normal seam, were simply set on top of one another and sewed together, leaving the one that had been on top visible.

It was a little unorthodox, but Sam had to admit that it was cute. It sure was a piece of work though—very bright. "This is great, Vala…is this what you've been doing all week?"

Her friend groaned and flopped back on the bed. "Yes. You have no idea. It was trial and error the entire time. I have to admit I enjoyed it a little after a while, the whole sewing thing and knowing I made it myself, but it took _forever_."

"What's it for?"

Vala sat up again and sighed. "Daniel. Crocheting or whatever it is sounds too complicated for me to learn quickly, but I thought I could do this." She smiled a little. "And I did."

"And it's beautiful, Vala. I'm sure he'll love it. She pointed to the seams. Since half the ends are on the outside though, you should probably get some clear fingernail polish or something and brush it over these to make sure nothing comes unraveled."

"Oh! Of course. I was sure I was forgetting something." Vala jumped up and ran to her dresser, where she opened a make-up case that sat on top of it. "Huh. No clear." She pulled out a bottle of bright red polish instead and came back. "This'll do."

Sam blinked. "You're not supposed to use anything that can be seen. Sealing the ends is just to hold everything together; it's not supposed to be visible."

Vala grinned. "So? This is more fun."

"If you want to," she told her, hands in the air now. "It's your scarf."

Vala picked up said scarf and went to the table with the red nail polish. "How is yours coming?"

Sam shrugged and stood up from the bed. "It's all right. It's not the most perfect specimen in the world, but I'm going to finish it in time, at least. It turns out crocheting is actually kind of fun."

"Good." Vala nodded absently and went back to work, and Sam decided she should probably get out of the way.

Sam was still determined that they would find Daniel eventually, but she had all but given up on having him home for Christmas. She was glad at least one of them still had that hope.


	2. Made With Love part 2

Here's the rest of the first Christmas...the next chapter/second Christmas will be coming soon! Enjoy!

* * *

Made With Love _continued_

Vala closed her door behind her and leaned against it for a moment, as if it would shield her from reality. Daniel a prior…couldn't know if he was himself…even a possibility he could be gone for good, mentally…

Daniel was in orbit on the Odyssey, strapped into a restraining chair with the anti-prior device humming in the background. He wasn't awake yet, and the de-brief hadn't improved her mood at all. They were going back to the ship in an hour. He should have woken by then, and they would wait if he hadn't.

For now, Vala had an hour to kill and too much nervous energy to kill it with.

Hands shaking, she crossed quickly to her table and picked up the craft magazine. She was through with the scarf, but there had to be something quick and easy in here that she could do, just to keep her mind off of…Daniel. Of course there wasn't anything that easy. She snorted quietly, wondering if there was any point. Even if he was himself, he wouldn't need anything to keep him warm. He could probably adjust his body temperature at will.

Vala tossed the magazine on her bed, snatched up the scarf, and wrapped it around her neck Just because she didn't know if she would ever be able to give it to Daniel didn't mean it would go to waist after all her hard work. She dragged the leftover fabric and her few sewing tools to the floor and began to sort through them, looking for a decent pattern for a hat. If she was going to make anything else with the materials she'd bought, she could always keep those too—or give them to the others. It wasn't the end of the world, she told herself. It wasn't…

Who was she trying to fool?

If they lost Daniel in the end, it would be the end of _her_ world.

* * *

Cameron's search ended in the commissary, where he found Vala with her face buried in her arms at an empty table with an untouched piece of pecan pie at her elbow.

"Hey…"

She jumped when he laid a hand on her shoulder, and squinted when she saw he was already geared up for the most part. "Hi…"

"It's time to get going if we're going to find that Ori-killer weapon."

"I know," Vala nodded.

There was silence for a long moment, so Cam pulled out the chair beside her and sat down. "So what is it?"

She seemed to contemplate whether or not to tell him before answering, but then again that was Vala. "I wanted him back. I didn't want this." She motioned in the air, indicating the Daniel prior/sangra'al situation in general. "I think I almost feel guilty about leaving on this mission now." Her voice tightened. "Woolsey will have had Daniel frozen by the time we get back."

Cameron sighed. "Yeah, that's probably true. But he's not gone. We'll get him back."

"Yes, but see, the thing is that most of me believes we already have him back—that he really is himself. He just needs to be human again. What about his claim that he'll revert on his own? What if by putting him in stasis that's being prevented?"

"Hey, if this all works out that means he really is on the level, and we'll get him thawed out as soon as we get back—but we have to leave first."

Her arms crossed over her chest. "Still, even if that happens—and I'm sure it will—I doubt he would be released by the IOA in time for Christmas. It's in three days."

"So we'll wait until they give him back; not a big deal because we get the whole week off."

"But—"

Cameron stood and pulled her out of her chair. "Come on, time to get dressed."

"All right," Vala sighed finally. She started to move past him toward the door.

"Wait!"

She spun around in confusion. "What?"

Cam pointed to the small plate on the table. "Pick that up and eat it first. One important rule, especially during holidays: Good pie must _never_ go to waste."

* * *

The dead space outside the Odyssey viewport in front of them stood empty now, but for the quiet supergate. After Mitchell's solemn and yet accurate assessment of what had happened today, none of them had said another word. He and Teal'c and General O'Neill had lead the silent retreat from the bridge, and Sam had gone back to the command chair to start them on their way home.

Vala and Daniel both had reasons to stare out the windows a little longer. Sam didn't bother them, but she didn't wait until they turned away to jump the ship into hyperspace.

Vala was thankful for that, at least—and that Daniel was safe, himself, and human again. Beyond that they weren't sure of much of anything.

Daniel padded back out into the corridor, still in scrubs and shoeless after running here straight from the infirmary, and Vala shook Adria from her mind and followed him. "Are you all right?" she asked quietly, once the bridge doors were shut behind them.

He was distracted, understandably, and her question brought him back to the present. "What?"

"Your head," she supplied helpfully.

"Oh. Yeah…it'll be fine."

"Still a little achy now?"

He almost laughed. "I had two consciousnesses in there for two or three months."

"I supposed that's a yes."

Daniel shrugged, and Vala swung her arms. "It's good to have you back…I didn't even need my plan."

He raised an eyebrow. "The one you didn't plan."

"Well…"

There was a moment of silence before he answered. "Thanks." She glanced up at him. "About it being good that I'm back…and everything." The 'everything' implied a little more, but she wasn't going to ask.

"You're welcome." She waited another moment, but he didn't say anything. By then her defenses were low enough that she couldn't resist the temptation to hug him, just to make sure he was real. It was apparent by the way his body tensed at first that he hadn't been expecting that, but after a moment with her arms around his neck he relaxed and gave in for a moment, returning the embrace.

"I missed you guys," he sighed. He was the one to break off though, after another few seconds. Vala took the hint and let go of him.

"We missed you too—I…missed you," she clarified uneasily, though it was only uneasy because she wasn't sure how he would take it.

To her relief he just smiled a little. "Thanks. Again."

Vala nodded with a little smile of her own, decided that now would be a good time to get out while she was ahead, and retreated.

She passed General O'Neill in the corridor and wondered if he'd seen or heard any of that.

* * *

Jack watched Vala go, and then made his way back to where Daniel still stood outside the bridge door. Once he was sure his friend had seen him he glanced pointedly back in the direction Vala had gone.

"Well she's certainly still…interesting."

Daniel shrugged. "Yeah, I'm not going to disagree with that."

"Different though."

He blinked, glanced at Jack for a moment. "Yes. She is. She's changed a lot since the last time you saw her. That was what, at least a year and a half ago? Before she disappeared?"  
"Yea," Jack nodded. Daniel stared ahead again, distracted. He wasn't going to address that, because he was sure there were plenty of things Daniel had to think about right now that Jack had no business bothering him about. He settled for shocking him back to normalcy.

"You like her."

"Excuse me?"

Daniel was looking at him again now, all right. "Come on, once you get past the whole hijacking you and the ship thing, and the whole linking you together against your will thing, I'm sure there's plenty to like."

"Jack…" he groaned.

"Right, okay, done prying." He raised an eyebrow. "You might want to go find some clothes."

Daniel glanced down at himself and nodded. "Yeah, and then some halfway decent food." His stomach complained loudly and he crossed his arms over it self-consciously. "With a prior's physiology it was much easier to ignore the fact that I haven't eaten in a few days."

"Been a little busy?"

Daniel smirked and walked away, and Jack called after him when his stomach growled again.

"Not so _full_ of yourself anymore, now are you?"

"Shut up, Jack!" Daniel called back.

* * *

Daniel couldn't help but pull in a deep breath the moment the beam dissolved around him and he was standing in the SGC again. Jack and SG-1 were now clustered in the 'gate room, standing as they had been when O'Neill had given the order to beam them down.

Thankfully Jack had also taken care of explanations before they beamed down to make sure that Daniel wouldn't be immediately jumped once they were on the surface.

It was over. For now.

It seemed Woolsey was already gone, but General Landry was there to greet them. He made it brief, welcomed Daniel back, and left them alone.

Sam spun to face the rest of them a spread her arms a little. "Hey guys, cheer up. We're home. We're all safe." She motioned to Mitchell. "Cam's right; maybe things are going to get a little more complicated in the near future with those ships here, but we did the right thing today. We did a good thing. We can be happy about that, right?"

"Indeed," Teal'c said quietly.

The rest of them seemed to be relaxing a little already, and she grinned. "Besides, it's Christmas Eve."

Daniel's eyebrows shot up. "It is? Have I really been gone that long?"

Jack smirked. "Couldn't you tell time with those fancy powers?"

"To some extent, but it was harder before that. I was on Adria's ship, and it was hard to compare their schedule top Earth. I could never be sure of the date here."

Mitchell clapped him on the back. "Well the good news is that you didn't miss Christmas. Good thing too, cause Vala here was about to have a temper tantrum if you didn't make it back it time."

Daniel caught the annoyed glare Vala sent Mitchell's way before she realized he was looking at her. She quickly composed herself and changed the subject. Sam, wasn't the plan to be at your house tomorrow? Is that still on? You missed visiting your family yesterday…"

"I called my brother before we left. He knew I wouldn't get there, so I'm going later this week. Of course we're still having Christmas at my place." Sam glanced uncertainly at O'Neill. "General Landry and Carolyn are coming, sir. You're more than welcome to stay, too."

"Well, I _should_ get back to Washington…"

Daniel shot a frown at him. "On Christmas Eve, Jack? Come on, you didn't make it back for Christmas last year."

"He is correct, O'Neill."

Vala bounced up to his side and grinned. "Besides, this is my first Christmas here, and the more the merrier, I say!"

Jack seemed to contemplate for a moment and finally rolled around to his answer. "Oh…all right. What the hey."

Vala cheered, Teal'c smiled that little smile of his, Sam grinned, and Mitchell pumped a fist in the air. Daniel laughed a little at the look on Jack's face.

"We should all go home and get some sleep," Sam said finally, when the noise had died down and they were all moving out into the corridor. "We can meet at my house in the morning, say around noon? I would say ten, but we were gone and I haven't had time to cook anything yet."

"Don't worry; I'll help," Vala offered.

"Uhm…"

"We'll come early and help too," Cameron said quickly, and elbowed Daniel. "Right, Jackson?"

"Right!" Daniel answered in surprise. "Right…Yea we can all help with the cooking…"

Jack clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Well we might as well all get there at ten then, hmm?" Teal'c nodded, and there were various verbal agreements. "Great! Now I need to figure out where I'm crashing." He looked around at the group expectantly.

"You can stay at my place, sir," Cameron answered immediately.

"Thank you, Mitchell."

"You too, Jackson."

"What?"

"You just got back; there's no reason to leave you alone in that house of yours."

Daniel shrugged. "I like my house. It's bigger anyway. Why don't we all go there?"

"Because, again, you just got back. You shouldn't have to be the host," Mitchell pointed out.

"Is your apartment even big enough for more than one guest?"

The colonel rolled his eyes. "I've got a recliner, sleeping bags, and a couch that folds out, besides the bed. There's plenty of room for four."

"Four?" Teal'c inquired.

"You're coming too, of course."

"Am I?"

Jack dropped a hand on the jaffa's shoulder. "Yes, T, you are coming as well," he said dramatically.

Teal'c nodded deeply. "Very well."

Sam grabbed Vala's arm and started to pull her down the corridor. "Well this one will be with me, and we will see you boys in the morning."

Vala waved good night over shoulder and winked, and the two women disappeared around the corner, already falling into an easy female conversation.

Daniel stared at the place where they'd vanished. "Huh. I knew they were friends before, but…"

Mitchell glanced down the corridor and then back at him. "Oh that? Yeah…I think that's gotten a lot stronger while you were gone."

"That's good…" His voice trailed off and his throat clogged unexpectedly.

"Jackson?"

He cleared his throat. "Ah, nothing. I'm fine." He fell silent for a moment, and a thought occurred to him that suddenly seemed more important than before. "Hey, my car is still in the parking lot, right?"

"Yeah, and your keys are still in your locker as far as I know, but you don't need them. We'll all fit in my car."

"Yeah, I know, but I think there's something I need to do first," Daniel sighed. "You guys should go on." They all stared at him for a moment, and he shifted uncomfortably. "I'll be fine. I'll be there later." Finally the they let him go, and he hurried through the corridors to the locker room to claim his coat and keys.

He ran into Jack on the way out. "Whoa! Hey. Shouldn't you be with Mitchell and Teal'c?"

O'Neill shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Nah. I think I'll go with you. Who needs sleep or sanity when you can go to the mall at six o'clock on Christmas Eve?" Daniel gaped him for a moment before he remember that the two of them had an uncanny way of reading each other's minds. "You do know you're crazy, right?"

He shrugged. "Well I don't have time to pull anything else together, but after what they've been through while I was gone I'm not showing up at Sam's house in the morning empty-handed even if most of what I end up with comes in a form of an I-Owe-You-Big-Time."

Jack nodded. "Yea…and after missing last year I figure I have something to make up for too."

Daniel smiled and finally shut the locker room door behind him. "So…do we have a plan of attack?"

"Shock-and-Awe. Don't let 'em know what hit them."

Daniel chuckled.

It was good to be home.

* * *

Sam and Vala were putting the finishing touches on getting the huge stuffed monkey wrapped when the guys pulled up the next morning, and Carter quickly stashed away the wrapping supplies and glanced in satisfaction at their work under the tree.

"Well, that's everything else. The ham has been in for a while, they're helping with the rest of the food, and then we're ready."

"Brilliant!" Vala clapped her hands.

"You did wrap the other thing, right?"

Vala looked at her blankly. "Other thing…?"

"For Daniel."

She winced. "Well, I did. It's in my bag, but it's not under the tree…"

Sam eyed her. "Why not?"

"Well, I don't know if h—"

"Vala, you cannot chicken out now. You put a lot of work into that thing."

There was the knock on the door, and vala used to opportunity to discard the subject. "I'll get it!" She heard Sam sighed behind her as she ran into the entryway, but she ignored it.

All four of them came in with a stack of gifts in their arms, and Sam gave Daniel and General O'Neill a look when they set them under the tree. Both did their best to look innocent, but the dark circles under their eyes showed a little even through their grins. "You two," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Don't worry; we read them the riot act when they finally got in last night," Mitchell chuckled.

Vala couldn't help but smile. That was Daniel, all right. The look on his face helped convince her that he really was himself again, even if he was himself with a bit more baggage to carry just as the rest of them had.

But then again, she was already gathering that that was part of what Christmas was about—dropping it all for a while, even if it was only for a day.

* * *

Not long after Daniel and the rest of the guys arrived at Sam's house, the party moved into the kitchen to get the rest of the dishes for dinner put together. After another hour or so most of the food was prepared, and General Landry and Carolyn arrived early and helped set the table once they'd left their own gifts under the tree.

Daniel reveled in the warm feeling of being home again; he couldn't have picked a better day to return if he'd been able to choose himself. Jack was there, cracking jokes like old times, the general and Carolyn seemed comfortable in their second Christmas with SG-1, and Vala sat beside him at the table and he didn't mind—it didn't even phase him when he realized she was looking at him more often than she did her food. After he'd been gone for so long, he wasn't going to snap at her.

Things got more interesting when they moved back into the living room; part of it was the extra elbow room they had then, because Sam's dining room was rather small. It was time to exchange gifts, and Sam turned on her stereo before joining the group around the tree. There were eight of them this year, more than there had ever been.

"What are you guys waiting for? Dig in."

That elicited a round of chuckles, but they quickly realized that with this many people it wasn't very efficient for everyone to be passing out gifts at once. Jack and Landry volunteered to do the passing around, and forced the others to take a seat. When the two generals were done giving out all of the gifts, there was still a large wrapping-covered lump against the wall beside the tree. Jack looked at Sam questioningly, and she motioned for him to forget about it and sit down to open his presents. Jack just shrugged and did so.

Now why didn't he like the looks of that? Something in him wasn't surprised when Sam and Vala got up once everyone was done and went to drag out the strange big thing. Sam cleared her throat and Vala called out loudly.

"_Excuse_ me!" She paused and let them all focus on her and Carter.

"Thank you," Sam said when they were quiet. She motioned to Vala. "We have a little bit of a presentation to make. As you all know, Daniel was missing for several weeks…"

Vala picked it up. "And we thought we should get him something for his return that would let him know how much we love him," she said, and winked in his direction.

_Uh oh. What now?_

Sam grinned and patted the big lump. "Come on, Daniel. Get over here and open your present."

He stood up slowly. "Do I really want to…?" Both women laughed, and Mitchell and Teal'c were smirking. It seemed _they_ knew about it but Jack, Landry, and Carolyn looked a little bewildered. Daniel shrugged and made his way warily to the huge conglomeration of wrapping paper that surrounded something that sat on its own and came up to his waist. He waited another moment, looking it over and building the suspense, and then ripped the paper off quickly.

Daniel stood gaping in complete confusion at what lay beneath. "What?" Everyone was laughing now, as he stared at the oversized stuffed monkey that stared back at him with big glossy blue plastic eyes.

Blue. With light brown fur the color of his own hair. Somehow they had even found large plastic glasses to stitch to its head, the arms disappearing under the Santa hat that perched on it's head. Two plush candy canes stuck out of one of its hands.

"Oh. I get it," he smirked, and crouched down in front of it. "Looks just like me."

"Spitting image!" Jack called cheekily. Daniel shot him a look that didn't phase the general in the slightest.

"That was the general idea," Vala told him, nearly breathless with laughter. She and Sam were holding each other up.

"Do you like it?" Carter gasped.

Daniel had to shake his head at the ridiculousness of it, but then he grinned. "I love it." Then he gave O'Neill another look. "I think I'll name it Jack."

"Hey, I don't have blue eyes!" Jack protested. "Pick on Mitchell here. But he even he doesn't have glasses."

And thus, after a few minutes of animated discussion, Doctor Jack Mitchell the Monkey was born.

"Call him DJ, for short," Cam suggested. Since he hadn't been the one to dispute his name being used, Daniel agreed to leave off his initial in the nickname. Of course by then, well, DJ were his own initials and they were right back around to the fact that the monkey was supposed to be him.

Daniel finally decided to haul the thing out to his car already, before there was any more good-spirited argument over it in any way shape or form. When he came back inside Mitchell was on a mistletoe ambushing spree, so he figured he'd better stay out of site long enough for it to pass. He didn't realize Vala wasn't in the living room with the rest of them until he ran into her in the hallway.

She was coming from the direction of the guest room, and she had a small bulging package wrapped self-consciously in her arms. "Hi," she said suddenly, stopping in front of him—which was when she finally realized he was there.

"Hey," he smiled. In the back of his mind an alarm went off, warning that it was dangerous to be standing this close to her, if Mitchell were to come looking for the missing persons from the party right now. "What do you have?"

Vala glanced down at the package in her arms as if just remembering she had it. "This? Oh, well, uhm, I had it back there…"

"I gathered that."

She was silent for a long moment, and then sighed. "I didn't put it under the tree because I wasn't sure how it would go over."

"What do you mean?"

She hesitated against, and then thrust the clumsily-wrapped present into his arms. "Here. It's for you." He blinked at her for a moment in surprise, and motioned to it questioningly. "Yes, open it."

"Okay…thanks," he said uncertainly.

"Wait until you see it," she muttered. He chose to ignore that, and pulled the paper away from whatever was inside.

A nine-or-ten inch wide length of cobbled together fabrics fell into his hands as the paper fluttered to the floor, and then he noticed the short tassels and realized that it was supposed to be a scarf. Now that he noticed, it felt pretty thick, too—effective even if the craftsmanship wasn't perfect. It was a little overly-long, but in a scarf that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. What was hard to get his eyes around were the loud Christmas patterns and pictures on the soft, fuzzy material.

He realized his eyes were wide again, and tried his best to soften them. "Huh…wow…did you…did you make this?" he managed. The prospect seemed incredible, but it was the only explanation considering the way it was put together.

Vala nodded sheepishly, and glanced at him warily as he stared at it. "You don't like it."

"What? No, of course I do. It's, it's soft…and interesting. Sure I like it…"

"You don't have to."

"I do," he said again, and it was mostly the truth. The colors might take a little getting used to, but it was kind of…nice. Cute. She smiled a little.

So why did part of him want to drop it and run? Why was his chest squeezing in hard and cutting off the air in his throat?

Sha're. That was why. She had been the last person who had ever sewn anything for him; the last person who had looked at him with that expectant, hopeful expression; the last person who had cared enough…who had felt…who had wanted him to…

It all made him want to scream _I'm not ready for this!_

"Daniel?"

But that was when Mitchell found them, and launched into the room to dangle a sprig of mistletoe above their heads. "So this is where you ran off to. Your turn!"

Daniel's gaze snapped quickly to the colonel. "What?" he snapped, and he was barely able to push the sound past his clogged throat.

Cameron indicated the plant above their heads and grinned. "Go on, kiss her, Jackson. Everybody's kissing everybody today. It's fun. Come on, this is the last day this year I can carry this stuff around."

Of all the times when he really didn't need Mitchell to be goofing around…

But they were both staring at him, and there was no way he would be able to speak enough to explain why he couldn't, even if he was willing to. He settled for quickly leaning over to kiss Vala's cheek. He could tell she was disappointed, but it was all he had in him.

In his hands he gripped the scarf that he couldn't give back—because he didn't want to hurt her—and backed away. "Thanks," he all but gasped. Then he turned and fled at a brisk walk, back out into the living room. Behind him he heard Mitchell stealing a peck on the lips from Vala with the mistletoe, but Daniel felt her eyes on his back as he left them just the same.

* * *

Daniel didn't see any of them for a few days. He caught up on sleep, food, and the translations he had at home while Sam went to visit her brother's family, Cameron went to see his parents, and Vala and Teal'c stayed at the SGC doing whatever it was they did when everyone else was gone.

The scarf Vala had given him lay abandoned and avoided on the bench under the coat rack inside his door, in the first place he had seen to drop it when he'd arrived home after the party. That week Daniel woke up crying for Sha're twice—something that hadn't happened in years, not since just after remembering her again when he regained his memory the first time he descended.

Before he realized it was time to head back to Sam's for New Years. They always spent it together, all night, and this was a first for Vala as well.

Daniel rushed through his house, trying to find his winter things, when he remembered that he had been gone, and then stayed home all week…and he hadn't unpacked them yet. All he had right now for this cold was the one heavy coat he kept out all year for emergencies out-of-season cold days. All of his gloves and scarves and hats and other heavier coats were in a box somewhere in the bottom of his closet, but he needed to be out the door in five minute by the time he realized it.

Suddenly he stopped and saw the one scarf lying on the bench by the door, alone and forgotten. Slowly Daniel walked to the bench and picked it up. He ran the soft fabric through his hands, and remembered that the scarf was thick and strong and would probably help a lot with warmth, actually…

His throat clogged again when he remembered why he hadn't touched it all week, but to his surprise this time he could gulp the sensation away quickly.

It really had been a sweet gesture, for Vala to do this. She had probably put a lot of hard work into it, too. Daniel stared at it for a long moment, and this time he was able to chuckle at the assortment of designs in the different materials.

Finally he sighed and wrapped the scarf around his neck—twice, because the length required it.

It was just as warm as he'd thought it would be.

* * *

Vala spent most of the week after Christmas resting, just relieved that Daniel was back and things would soon go back to normal. She and Teal'c spent most afternoons watching Christmas movies late into the night, or talking until the early morning hours. She knew well that there were not many people with whom Teal'c could talk for that long, but the extensive experiences with the Goa'uld both had in their past formed a bond there that she was grateful for.

Especially when she was worried sick that she had scared Daniel away. He'd said he liked the scarf, but the look on his face had said something else entirely. She'd been agonizing over it all week.

That was why she was surprised when he wandered into Sam's house on New Years Eve wearing the scarf she'd given him. Teal'c had driven the two of them here in his SUV, and they were the only ones here so far. Sam and Teal'c were in the kitchen, which left Vala to answer the door and gape at Daniel when he came in with the scarf.

Daniel pulled off his coat and hung it up, but left the scarf on over his black sweater and turned sheepishly back to her with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. "Hi…"

She smiled a little "Hi." Silence. "So…you do like it?"

He glanced down at the bright thing around his neck and was quiet for a long moment, reflective, seeing something she couldn't know about. "Yea," he said finally, and chuckled a bit. "I do like it."

Vala hugged him again then, and he let her. He smiled at her when she let go. "Thank you."

He might have said more, but another knock on the door signaled Mitchell's arrival and the completion of the party. Jack was back in Washington now, and Landry and Carolyn had other plans. Tonight it would be only SG-1.

"So how is DJ?" Vala asked wryly as she went to the door.

"Oh, you mean Doctor Jack Mitchell the monkey? He's fine. He's sitting under the mantle in my living room…"


	3. Christmas Without Carter part 1

Here's the beginning of the next Christmas! I can't do the third Christmas until after the Atlantis finale though, cause we don't know what position Sam in occupying on Earth, exactly. *sigh* That, and we'll be somewhere without easy internet access, with family and such. So I might not get _anything_ else uploaded till just after New Years. That's why I made sure to get this up today, so enjoy! Merry Chrismas!

* * *

2nd Christmas: Christmas Without Carter

_Last Christmas_

_I gave you my heart_

_And the very next day_

_You gave it aw—_

Vala snorted in annoyance and shut off the radio before it could finish the chorus that she'd heard too many times in the past two weeks—and Thanksgiving had only been yesterday. _How annoyingly appropriate though,_ she huffed silently.

Sure, maybe things were a little better now. Daniel seemed less annoyed by her presence, smiled at her more…but then again they all had reason to smile. Neither the Ori nor their followers were any longer a threat. Vala was glad for that, but still, after everything she'd been through last December, she would think maybe he would be even a little more receptive than he was.

It didn't help her mood that SG-1 hadn't been together for Thanksgiving this year, either. Well, technically, they had been, but that only made it hurt more when she remembered that even though it didn't feel that way, Sam was no longer a member of the team. She was now the leader of the Atlantis expedition.

Vala sighed and rolled off of the bed to her feet. It was no use moping around. It wouldn't change anything.

She found Daniel in his office, mussing over a translation he was deep enough into that he didn't notice she was there until her hand on his arm made him look up.

"Hmm? Oh…hey." Not entirely dismissive, none of the old annoyance, but there was a hint of something different—something that told her he wished she hadn't come in just now.

Vala wondered if she'd done something wrong—unfortunately still her first assumption when Daniel was angry or upset—but she realized that it must be something new when she went around the table and sat across from him. She noticed immediately that he was trying to duck his head far enough to keep her from seeing, but she caught his pink cheeks and red-rimmed eyes quickly, even behind the glasses.

"Daniel?"

"What?" he asked grudgingly.

"Is something wrong?"

"No," he answered, too quickly, still not looking at her. But both of them knew that she wasn't buying it.

Tentatively Vala reached across the table and touched his arm, but he pulled it away and stood as if to put the translation away. "I'm fine."

She pushed out from the table and went back around it to him. "Don't give me that. Really, Daniel, I'm not _that_ dense."

"I'm fine," he muttered, shoving things back onto shelves as he circled the office, avoiding her.

But there was only one thing that could really be bothering him at the moment. "It's about Sam, isn't it?"

Daniel froze, only for a second, but it was enough to tell her she was right. "We all miss her, you know."

He knew he was had, and he stopped pacing and sighed, but his back was still turned as he fiddled with a stack of papers on his desk. "It's not just that. I know that. We know where she is, we get messages, talk to her on the video feed. It's not that. That's not the issue. I can deal with that; it's just like Jack, another long distance friendship. Everyone has them. That's not the problem."

"Then what is the problem?" she asked slowly.

She saw him tense, saw his hands abandon the papers and grip the edges of the desk. It only took her a moment to realize what he meant before he said it—because she already knew.

"Where you _there_ last week? When Sheppard came on instead of Sam? When he told us she was laid out in the infirmary? Unconscious because she'd broken her leg falling into some kind of abandoned mine?"

Yes, she'd been there. She remembered the sudden fear, that remained even after Sheppard had assured that Sam was going to be fine. She remembered realizing that even with the replicators finally gone, the Pegasus galaxy was still much more dangerous than their own now—and the circumstances around her getting hurt didn't even have anything to do with those factors.

Daniel finally turned around then, facing her but still not looking directly at her. The pain she saw in his eyes anyway told her that he didn't want to be spilling his heart like this, but something was making him do it anyway. Maybe he just needed to get it out.

That was all right. She didn't mind being here.

"It's bad enough on this job…knowing something could happen to someone you care about right here, but it's worse having her out there like that…Something could happen to her and we might not even know immediately._ Anything_ could happen, and we wouldn't be able to get to her in time, if she _had_ any time…" His voice ground to a halt there and he turned away again.

Vala swallowed hard, because though she couldn't know exactly how he felt—didn't have the deeper connection of many more years of friendship with Sam—she still understood his fears.

"It doesn't help, with the holidays this time of year, and not having her here now," she offered quietly.

"No," he agreed, barely audible.

"I know."

He looked at her then, thankfully, and Vala reached for his hand and squeezed it. "She'll be fine."

"Yeah…" He sighed, and to her surprise he squeezed back before he let go.

She watched him go back to the table and pull out something else to work on, and something twisted in her chest.

That was all she could do, all she say, really. There was nothing else she could do keep him from hurting, even though it pained her just as much to see him suffering as it did knowing that Sam wouldn't be home for Christmas, either. Annoyingly enough, sometime in February Teal'c would be going to Pegasus via the new 'gate bridge because of some impending IOA review of the personnel over there. Apparently Sam thought Atlantis's own big intimidating alien could use some help preparing.

But the rest of them didn't know when they would see her in person again.

Vala sighed heavily and wandered out of Daniel's office, thinking hard all of a sudden. What if she _could_ do something?

Halfway back to her room she spun and broke into a run back toward Landry's office.

* * *

"Vala, there's nothing_ I_ can do about that. I have no jurisdiction."

"No, but you would know who to talk to—what to say to them."

Landry sighed. "I hardly think the IOA or anyone in Washington would be obliged to pay much attention over something so trivial."

"Trivial?" Vala fumed, pacing in front of the general's desk. "We're all going crazy here! Attempting to do something about that could hardly be called trivial."

"Not to you, and not even to me, but to the IOA, it is, and that's what counts. Maybe if you'd had an earlier start, but with only a couple of week or so I don't think you'll make much progress."

She stopped and let down hands drop onto the edge of the desk. "All I want to do is get Sam home for Christmas!"

Landry's tone softened. "And in any other situation, any other job, any other place, that really wouldn't be much to ask—I understand that. But she's in the Pegasus galaxy, Vala. She's the leader of an expedition that needs her. It's a lot different than my job, having to keep those people alive out there."

"But we have the 'gate bridge now. She would only be gone for three or four days, even with the overnight quarantine in-between…"

"I know that, and you know that, but vacation times have already been firmly set, and it wouldn't be right to make that kind of exception."

Vala dropped into one of the chairs there and pouted. "But she just broke her leg; doesn't that count for something?"

Landry thought for a moment. "I suppose it might…" He sighed. "Look, I'll make a few calls, but that's all I can promise."

That was enough to have her out of her chair again; she popped up and grinned. "Thanks!" Then she was out the door and bounding away, leaving Landry to shake his head in her wake.

* * *

Daniel hadn't seen much of Vala all week, and there were rumors that she'd been in and out of Landry's office for days. He wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but he supposed he would know already if it were anything to worry about. As it was, he knew better than to interfere when Vala was in one of her intense focus moods. When she wanted something, or was trying to get something done, she was single-minded until whatever was accomplished.

That was why he didn't bother her that morning when she blew into the commissary, snatched up enough packaged foods for a decent breakfast, and started to hurry out again. T was until _she_ caught sight of _him _that she slowed down and changed course.

"Hey. How are you?" she asked brightly.

"Uhm…fine…" It wasn't entirely untrue. They'd just talked to Sam yesterday, so it had improved his attitude—besides the fact that he knew it wouldn't do any good moping. They'd all had to get over this when Jack went to Washington, after all, except for the fact that D.C. wasn't nearly as dangerous.

"Good." Vala smiled warmly, then leaned over to swiftly peck him on the cheek before hurrying away. He didn't even have time to sputter at her.

It took a moment to realize, almost painfully, that he didn't want to.

* * *

"Thank you, general!"

Vala grinned and snapped her phone shut. Several days of endless phone calls to Washington—which was still much less time than she'd imagined they would need—had finally paid off. Glad that she could drive now, she turned on her heel on the sidewalk and headed back for her car, juggling a few shopping bags.

She had to admit that, even without Sam, she was already enjoying the holiday season more this year. It was easier to be in a reasonably good mood when she wasn't wondering if one of her best friends was alive or not. The bright decorations in town helped, too, the music, the atmosphere…

She hadn't had time last year to really notice how strangely comforting it all was, despite the noise and rush. Most people seemed happy, and everyone had somewhere to go, and something to do—a purpose. There was a point to all this. Vala wasn't sure she had decided for herself what she thought of it all, but she enjoyed being here. She'd parked her car at a department store and walked the streets downtown as she shopped; though it was getting dark. She'd been in no hurry; she'd gone to the mall _before_ Thanksgiving. There wasn't much else she needed.

Now she had reason to hurry. She had a call to Atlantis to make.

* * *

The clunky brace that encased the lower half of her leg kept her from moving very fast, but at least it wasn't a cast. Sam was glad to be walking already at all. Just a few days ago she'd been forced to allow John to push her to the mess hall in a wheelchair for Thanksgiving dinner.

That was where she was headed now, intrigued by information that Christmas decorations were being put up there today. The base was too big and its personnel too diverse to make it worth really doing anything like that, but apparently the mess hall was the on exception.

Sam expected to see few garlands, ribbons, maybe a wreath, but she certainly didn't expect to see the Christmas tree that reach nearly to the high vaulted ceiling.

"Holy Hannah," she murmured, shuffling into the room. Her ponytail brushed her shoulder blades as she craned her neck to look up at the thing. It was nicely decorated—the garlands she'd expected, and several oversized ornaments along with the smaller ones—though everything was widely space, understandable considering the sheer size.

McKay was the first to notice she had arrived, and he quickly bounded over from the foot of the tree. "Hey, Sam. It's uhm, it's good to see you on your feet."

"Thanks—just please tell me that thing is fake. If it's not, I don't even want to _know_ how you got it in here."

"Oh, it's fake all right; had it shipped from Earth a couple years back, you know once we could and all."

"Right."

There were a few other decorations strung on the walls and set on the ledges around the rooms, but the few boxes it all had been in were already being closed and carried away. John Sheppard handed off a small crate to a younger airman and came over to them, a plastic snowman figurine forgotten in his hand.

"Good morning, colonel."

"Colonel," Sam smirked. "And why didn't I know about any of this before?" she asked, nodding around at the decked-out space.

"Ah…it's not official and all. We all had to chip in and pay for it ourselves to get it here in the first place," he shrugged. "You know, it was the first year when we really had contact with Earth, and we though the place could a little touch of home. Christmas seemed to be the only holiday most everyone could agree on in some form or another, so…" Sheppard looked around uncertainly.

"Maybe we went a little overboard," McKay said.

"Yes, well, I don't think anyone minds," John clarified.

Sam smiled. "No, I wouldn't think so. It's homey. Too bad I didn't get here in time to help."

John and Rodney exchanged a look, and Sheppard held out the snowman. "Here, put this somewhere."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"The job isn't done until every piece is in place," he said gravely.

Sam took the snowman and shuffled out into the mess hall, which was now nearly devoid of people at the off hour. She stopped at the base of the tree and looked up again. "So no sentient beings were harmed in the making of this, huh?"

John smirked as he and McKay followed her. "No one's ever fallen off a ladder getting it decorated, if that's what you mean—yet."

"Uh huh. Just make sure to keep it that way." She shook her head and moved toward the tables. She found the one that didn't yet have a centerpiece, and reverently set the snowman down in the middle of it.

"Happy now?" Sheppard asked.

"Immensely," Sam smirked. That was when Chuck rushed in, calling for Colonel Sheppard. John met him halfway across the room, and the two spoke briefly. After a moment John looked up and called back to Sam and Rodney.

"Midway station just dialed in, that's all."

Sam took a step toward him. "Is something wrong?"

"Nah, it's nothing—just a message for me. Don't worry about it. I'll catch you later." With that the colonel followed the technician away.

"Huh…"

McKay blinked a few times. "I'm sure it _is_ nothing, if he says so. You'd definitely know if there was anything to get worked up about."

"Believe me, I know." Sam sighed. Back to work, then. She missed the good old days already. Not that she didn't love the new job…and the people here…

But it was hard to forget how much she missed her friends.


	4. Christmas Without Carter part 2

Happy New Year everybody! Sorry I haven't updated this recently; things got a little crazy. Anyway, here ya go, and the third and final Christmas of this story will hopefully come soon! :) Enjoy!

* * *

Christmas without Carter _continued_

"And _why _can't we tell her?" Sheppard questioned over the video link.

Vala crossed her arms. "Because if she had time to think about it, she might decline to come. We both know she wants to, but that flawless sense of duty might get in the way if we allow her to decide for herself."

"Okay…good point."

"Exactly. Now will you help me?"

The colonel nodded immediately. "Of course. Colonel Carter certainly deserves the time off; but I'll need to be able to tell a few more people around here to make this work."

Vala shrugged. "Do whatever you have to do. I'm just not telling the rest of SG-1, so it'll be a surprise for_ all_ of them." She grinned mischievously, and Sheppard smirked for a moment, until his expression softened.

"That's nice. I hope you guys have a good time."

"Thanks."

He nodded again and straightened. "Merry Christmas then."

"Merry Christmas." Vala waved once, and the link was cut. Grinning, she hopped up to let General Landry know she was done using his computer.

* * *

The city-wide Christmas party on Atlantis took place the day before Christmas Eve—as tradition dictated so Carter had heard. By then there were enough extra string lights in the mess hall and surrounding corridors to almost require a naquidah generator of their own for power. The intercom system patched Christmas through to that area of the city, and those from Earth that celebrated Christmas or simply wanted to have a good time overflowed the mess hall.

Sam wasn't obligated to give any sort of address at the party, but when John mentioned that that, too, was tradition, she couldn't refuse. It seemed a fitting time to compliment everyone on their work this year, since she'd arrived…and to thank them again for welcoming her.

Though she couldn't help but get the familiar feeling of being just a little out of place when she remembered that in the past it had always been Elizabeth Weir giving this holiday congratulatory speech.

No one else let on if they were feeling the empty space, and Sam realized she was having just as much fun at this party as she would have back home at the SGC, or at Daniel's house, or at her own with the guys and Vala. She wondered how they were doing. She'd hoped they would send a message or something, but so far she hadn't heard from any of them since before the mine accident. When the Deadalus had arrived from Earth yesterday it hadn't brought anything from her friends, either.

Jennifer Keller wandered over with a glass in her hand, as couples and friends started to converge in the middle of the cleared floor to dance.

"Sorry you couldn't have the brace off in time for this," she apologized.

Sam shrugged. "It doesn't matter; who would I dance with?"

Keller's eyebrows went up a little. "I'm sure there's more than one guy here who wouldn't mind."

"Sure," Carter smirked.

"Come on, go find somebody. You're not completely immobile with that thing on, and you're healed enough by now. Besides, this is the twenty-first century you know. You don't have to wait for a guy to ask _you_ to dance," Jennifer encouraged.

"I don't know…"

"Uhm, Jennifer?" Mckay had suddenly materialized beside them, hands twitching nervously behind his back.

"Yes, Rodney?"

Sam chuckled inwardly as McKay stumbled through asking Keller to dance.

"Not that I wouldn't want to dance with you too, Sam, but you know, you've still got that brace on, and I wouldn't want to inconvenience you. I mean, I'm sure we could dance some other time, but, uhm—"

"That's fine, McKay. You two go on," she said quickly, before he hurt himself.

He blinked. "Right. That is, if you want to, Jennifer…?"

"Of course." Keller smiled warmly and set her glass down on the nearest table before waving to Carter and following Rodney onto the dance floor.

Sam waved back, waving them off, and nodded silently. Good. Finally someone to get his mind off Katie…and herself.

"May I have this dance?"

She turned a little too quickly, wincing at the twinge in her leg, and felt her eyebrows go up to her hairline when she saw John Sheppard behind her holding out a hand. "John?"

"What? I'm not going to let our new leader be a wall flower at her first Christmas party on Atlantis," the colonel answered simply. Well, that seemed innocent enough.

"Ah. All right then." Carter took the proffered hand and let Sheppard guide her slowly to the edge of the dance floor, careful that neither of them tripped over the brace. She thought he would stay there, but eventually he worked their way closer to the middle of the floor near Rodney and Keller. The two of them really weren't doing so bad. McKay could actually dance, it seemed, though it was obvious that Jennifer was better.

Sam wasn't so bad herself when she wasn't recovering from a broken leg, but even with his current partner John was showing them all up. He pulled her up from a dip she been able to do well enough using her good leg for support, and McKay rolled his eyes over Sheppard's shoulder.

"Show-off."

John laughed, and Sam exchanged amused glances with Jennifer.

"You just couldn't let Rodney get all the attention out here, could you?" Carter asked, when they were farther away.

"Okay, I guess that had something to do with it," he shrugged.

The party was over too soon, and the four of them left together, Rodney still complaining about Sheppard's deliberate display on the dance floor.

"Well what was I supposed to do, leave Colonel Carter by herself?" John protested.

"No…I don't know! What kind of question is that?"

Jennifer tapped McKay's shoulder. "Rodney, don't you have somewhere to be…?"

"What?" The scientist looked baffled for a moment before something dawned on him, and he glanced at Sheppard. "Right, right. Uhm, later." He waved once and headed quickly off with Keller.

"What was that about?"

"Oh, nothing," John said.

"Uh huh…"

"What?"

"I don't know, but I think you're up to something."

He grinned sheepishly. "Why don't we stop by the 'gate room."

Sam had no idea what for, but she followed him anyway. When they arrived, coming in from the side near the stargate, Teyla and Ronon were already there. The only other person in sight was Chuck, up in the control room. The man smiled and waved.

She waved back absently. "What's going on here?"

"Got them!" It was McKay, coming in from the other side with Jennifer. They were both carrying a smaller travel bag—both of which were hers.

"Wait, those are—"

"Yours," John agreed. "Didn't we tell you you were going home for Christmas?"

"No…"

"Good, because we weren't supposed to."

Sam frowned in confusion. "What?"

Teyla smiled softly. "Your friends on Earth wished that you could be there for the holiday. One of them acquired permission."

"And asked for my help in getting you there—namely by not giving you time to think about it," Sheppard added. He waved up to Chuck. "Dial it up!"

McKay took the bag Keller was holding, and set both of them at Carter's feet. "Tonight you're going through to the midway station, and you'll be on Earth in the morning," he told her.

"W-what?" she sputtered, as the 'gate burst to life. "But I can't. I'm responsible for the city. I can't just—"

"Relax. I can hold down the fort for a week or so," John promised.

"Yeah—with our help," Ronan smirked.

"Yeah, that…"

"We'll be fine," Jennifer assured her.

Sam sighed. "Well I know I can trust you to keep everyone alive, anyway."

John raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you're not going to give us any more trouble?"

"No, I guess not. I can't really argue with this, can I?"

"Nope."

"That was surprisingly easy," McKay said with relief.

"What, so eager to get rid of me, McKay?"

He looked confused again. "No, of course not. I'm just glad that you get to see your friends." Okay…not the response that she'd been expecting, but it was better.

"Thanks, Rodney."

John picked up her bags and handed them to her. "We all think you deserve this."

* * *

Vala seemed to be the only member of SG-1 happy to be at work on the morning of Christmas Eve. Of course for her nothing was different, seeing as she lived on the base, but having her bouncing around excited about something or other was incongruous to every else's grumblings.

"Would you _chill_ already?" Mitchell finally demanded—and it was only the end of breakfast. Daniel couldn't help but laugh inwardly at Vala's innocent look as she visibly tried to settle down.

"Sorry."

"What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing." She shoved a spoonful of cereal in her mouth to keep from being questioned further. Daniel smothered a smirk with a forkful of a piece of waffle…wishing Sam was here to grin and struggle with him to remain silent.

The unscheduled off-world activation klaxon went off a few minutes later, as they were putting up their trays, and Vala was the first to head for the door. "Come on!"

Daniel, Cameron, and Teal'c exchanged glances and followed her. Instead of heading for the control room she went straight to the 'gate room, leading them all in just in time for a single figure carrying two bags to step clear of the event horizon.

"Sam!"

Daniel was up the ramp and hugging her in a moment, and she'd dropped the bags to embrace all of them in turn. "Hey guys! I didn't think I'd get any time off for a while; I didn't think I'd see you guys so soon. It's good to be back..."

General Landry was already on the floor. "Welcome home, Colonel Carter." The general smiled, though he did not seem surprise. Neither did Vala.

"Thank you, sir," Sam answered, a little tiredly. She was in civilians clothes, and her hair was down—but then again if she was here she'd been on the midway station all night. She'd had time to change, if she hadn't done it before leaving Atlantis.

"Carter, what _are _you doing here?" Mitchell questioned incredulously.

"That's what I'd like to know," she smirked.

Vala grinned sheepishly. "I hope you don't mind."

Daniel stared at her. "You did this?" He and Sam spoke at the same moment, and she glanced at him.

"You didn't know I was coming either?"

"Either?" he echoed.

"Nobody told me until John and the others practically shoved me through the stargate last night."

"I thought it would be more fun that way," Vala nodded.

"So you did do this," Daniel stated, almost incredulously. "You and General Landry."

She clapped her hands. "With a bit of help from General O'Neill and our friends on Atlantis, yes."

"It was Vala's idea in the first place, though," Landry clarified. "She wanted her home for Christmas."

Daniel watched as Sam thanked Vala, hugged her again, and they laughed over the whole thing. He followed as the rest of them climbed down off the ramp again, welcoming Sam home for the holidays.

And he couldn't help smiling at Vala's back as they went.

* * *

Christmas the next day was at Daniel's house, and it was even happier than the previous year. Jack came again, this time because he'd planned to. Vala, who'd needed to get rid of all the material she'd bought last year, had made hats for everyone in her distinct patchwork style. She was thrilled to find that everyone loved them.

"This'll definitely give everyone back on Atlantis something to talk about," Sam laughed, pulling hers over her hair.

"I sure hope so. Take orders for me," Vala giggled, and from behind the couch were Daniel was sitting she shoved his onto his head and down over his eyes. Blindly he batted her away and pushed it up enough that he could see to grab her arms and pull her over the arm of the sofa as she tried to run away.

Vala yelped in surprise as she fell into the cushions beside him, and only then did she realize that Cam was up to his old habit of mistletoe-ambush again. In a second he'd trapped them under green-blue leaves. Vala glanced at Daniel, hoping maybe he wouldn't skirt the obligation this year, but at the same time knowing he wouldn't kiss her.

And then he did.

It didn't last long. It was short and sweet, and seemed so characteristic of him. But he did it, and it wasn't reluctant, and…though perhaps this was only wishful thinking…it didn't seem so much of a purely friendly gesture as it did when he gave Sam a brief kiss at these parties.

Daniel sat back on the couch, and she was staring at him. The others chuckled some, only a little surprised that he'd actually done it, but then they moved on. Vala didn't. She was still staring at him.

"What? You deserved it, after everything you did to get Sam home for us."

"Oh. Right. Thanks…After all, it's just tradition and everything…"

"Exactly," he smiled.

Only a thank-you. That's all it was. But that was all right…at least it was something. At least he was still looking at her that way, warmly, smiling at_ her_. Though he was never so hostile anymore as he had been at first, what seemed like such a long time ago, seeing him act like this toward her was still something that didn't happen often.

"Thank you," he said after a moment.

Vala grinned and tucked the moment away for safekeeping. She kissed his cheek, and he didn't flinch. He didn't even stop smiling, and he was still wearing the hat she'd made. The matching scarf from last was still draped over his sweater.

"You're welcome."

Who knew; maybe there was something to that deity idea, when it came to Christmas.


End file.
